Darkhouse (Experiment in Terror #1)

by Karina Halle

There’s always been something a bit off about Perry Palomino. Though she’s been dealing with a quarter-life crisis and post-college syndrome like any other twenty-something, she’s still not what you would call “ordinary.” For one thing, there’s her past which she likes to pretend never happened, and then there’s the fact that she sees ghosts. Luckily for her, that all comes in handy when she stumbles across Dex Foray, an eccentric producer for an upcoming webcast on ghost hunters. Even though the show’s budget is non-existent and Dex himself is a maddening enigma, Perry is instantly drawn into a world that both threatens her life and seduces her with a sense of importance. Her uncle’s haunted lighthouse provides the perfect catalyst and backdrop for a mystery that unravels the threads of Perry’s fragile sanity and causes her to fall for a man, who, like the most dangerous of ghosts, may not be all that he seems.

Rated 16+ for language and gore

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Experiment in Terror – a mature New Adult Horror/Romance series

My Thoughts:

Perry Palomino is twenty-two, a recent college grad, and works as a receptionist at an ad agency even though she has a degree where her skills would be put to better use in a position higher up in the company. But the economy is tough and she had to take what she could get, so that means living at home with her pretty fifteen-year-old fashionista sister, hypercritical mother, and professor father in suburban Portland. But Perry’s never felt like she’s fit in anywhere, with her dark past full of drug use, sketchy friends, and questionable choices. To cope, she takes classes to find a way to escape her life–training as a stunt woman, shooting guns at the range, self defense classes–anything to make life less mundane.

But Perry has been having vivid dreams of shipwrecks and the ocean, ones that leave her breathless and scared night after night. When her family travels to the coast to visit her Uncle and twin trouble maker cousins, Perry takes the opportunity to slip away and explore the abandoned lighthouse on her Uncle’s property. Inside the creepy, dilapidated building with a tragic history, Perry encounters handsome Dex Foray, a smooth talking internet web show producer who’s there to gather footage for a new show that he’s developing.

She also manages to capture some ghostly phenomena that happens while Dex and her are in the lighthouse, and while they part ways in a less than friendly way, Perry can’t shake the fear and nagging nightmares that she has from the experience. So she does what so many people do these days when they need to get something off of their chest: they blog about it. And her videos and blog posts go viral quickly, drawing the attention of Dex’s boss.

Dex sees the opportunity to get his fledgling paranormal web show off the ground–with Perry as the host and Dex behind the camera. And Perry sees a way out of her boring, run of the mill secretary life–even if she must welcome the paranormal back into her life.

Perry is such a real character–unsure of herself, her place in the world, who she wants to be. Her self esteem isn’t that high, but she covers this with humor and a little bit of snark. As soon as sexy Dex appears in the lighthouse, offering her a new opportunity to host this little web show (and as she sees it, a way out of her boring life).

And Dex Foray is good looking, charming when he wants to be, a smart ass all of the time, and his mood swings will give you whiplash. But Perry finds herself pining for him hard, even though Dex is dating a super thin and beautiful celebrity. He’s very eager to break away from filming his girlfriend’s show and make a name for himself, so it really makes you wonder why he’s hell bent on getting away on his own. What kind of secrets and haunted past are both Dex and Perry hiding from each other?

The writing is slow in spots since this is from Perry’s first person point of view, but you get all the dullness and quirkiness of her and her family. You really get to know this character who is just like an average slightly overweight girl trying to make something out of herself. The horror in the book was very mild, and it could be because it takes a lot to scare me these days, but the tension tends to come more from Perry not knowing where these dreams are coming from, and finally what is happening in the light house.

I give this one a four and a half out of five. The banter between Perry and Dex is fun, and seeing them fight their attraction to each other is great/maddening. While the scary parts are moderately chilling and written descriptively without being too gory, this book focused more on Perry’s interactions with Dex and her family rather than the case of the haunted light house.

I’m a PhD chemist who loves sarcasm, music, and books-paranormal, mystery, thriller, suspense, horror, and romance. Most of my free time is spent at the martial arts studio these days–whether practicing Combat Hapkido or reading books while watching my son’s Taekwondo classes, or even working up a sweat with Kickboxing for fun.Goodreads

I did read the rest of the series, and I loved every single book! I’ll be reviewing them one by one over the next month or so here on Bewitched Bookworms. And I just bought And With Madness Comes the Light, so I can’t wait for my lunch hour to get my fix of Dex! I really can’t wait for the next full length book in this series–I’m hooked!!Heather recently posted..Darkhouse by Karina Halle

I think this really like this one, Mary. And each book in the series is stronger than the next. There’s six out right now, and they come out every six months or so. Download this one since it’s free, but you might be like me and immediately buy the rest. But that’s okay too since they aren’t that expensive 😉Heather recently posted..Darkhouse by Karina Halle

I find it really hard to be scared by books and all the reviews of this one coming out saying it is soooo scary had me kind of hoping that finally this would be the one that hits the mark. Even if it doesn’t I like that there is a lot of tension and a good budding romance. It sounds like Dex & Perry’s relationship is really slow moving in the series and that is always good too. Wonderful review!Jenni @ Alluring Reads recently posted..Wish I Could Have Said Goodbye Tour Stop

Book don’t scare me at all either, Jenni. Their relationship takes a long time to develop, and it takes several books before they act on it. But this series is definitely worth the read.Heather recently posted..Darkhouse by Karina Halle

I don’t usually read horror, just because it’s not my genre of preference. However, your review has convinced me to give it a try and see where it goes. Great review! Let’s see if it is actually scary or if people are just saying that it is when it’s not. 🙂Olena recently posted..Cover Reveal: Faster We Burn by Chelsea M. Cameron

I’m glad that you’re going to pick this one up, Olena! I think that the horror is so mild that it won’t bother you. You’ll have to let me know what you think!Heather recently posted..Darkhouse by Karina Halle

Definitely bump this one up, Jenea! But I have to warn you, I couldn’t put these down and wound up reading all of the available six books in a week and a half. I couldn’t help myself! I hope you like it!Heather recently posted..Darkhouse by Karina Halle

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